The 2025 NCCA Fixtures have now been released and Berkshire face the following counties across the three formats next summer . . .
NCCA CHAMPIONSHIP
Berkshire v Devon
Cornwall v Berkshire
Berkshire v Herefordshire
Oxfordshire v Berkshire
NCCA TROPHY
Oxfordshire v Berkshire
Berkshire v Cornwall
Berkshire v Buckinghamshire
Devon v Berkshire
NCCA T20
Oxfordshire v Berkshire
Berkshire v Wales NC
Buckinghamshire v Berkshire
Berkshire v Bedfordshire
Head Catch Tom Lambert shared his views on the 2025 season . . .
“It’s always exciting to see the release of the fixtures for the season ahead, it seems to come around earlier every year! Only seems like yesterday we were sat watching it rain in Chester at T20’s finals day and now the fixtures make season 2025 seem so much closer and kicks us into gear with regards to the winter ahead. Our winter training program starts next week and the fixtures allow us to enter that with a little more focus and clarity.
There’s been a shift in which competitions are played when and personally I’m in support of it. In basic terms the 50 over competition swaps places with the the T20’s meaning the trophy campaign will start our summer. From my point of view the trickier early season conditions suit the 50 over game more than T20. It’s tough to play T20’s with the ball doing as much as it does so playing that closer to the middle of the summer should raise the standard and profile of that competition whilst the longer format white ball comp gives you more time to access and problem solve what’s put in front of you early season. So I’m happy with the structure of the summer.
Our opponents in the 50 over competition are Cornwall, Oxfordshire, Devon and Buckingham so a tough start. Trips to Oxfordshire and Devon allows for less travel time in one instance but more in the other so that brings it challenges, whilst Cornwall travel to us this year which is to our advantage as opposed to last year. All four sides in our group pose significant challenges so we’ll have to be spot on if we want to qualify from the group.
In T20 cricket we are placed with Wales, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, so duplicates in two cases and different with regards to Wales and Beds. Again a tricky group we’ll be looking to negotiate to make our way through to the super 12 stage of the competition and ultimately onto Finals day again if we can.
The championship which we’ll be joint defending with Staffordshire starts with the welcome of Devon before the long trip to Cornwall, a home game with newly promoted Herefordshire before we complete the divisional stage of the competition at home to Oxfordshire.
Each competition brings different challenges and we’ll look to compete as strongly as we can in each, taking them one at a time as we do each year. As I write this it’s around 3 degrees so the season seems a million miles away. I look forward to seeing the boys again next week as our preparations begin.”